Exercise 1612Combinatorics › Counting principlesOlympiadAdded 3 Nov 2026
Derangement formula
#derangement#inclusion-exclusion#formula
Statement
Prove that .
Hint
Use inclusion-exclusion on the set of fixed points.
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Solution
Setup. Let = permutations fixing element . We want permutations fixing no element, i.e. .
Count. (permutations fixing elements arbitrarily).
Inclusion-exclusion.
Conclusion. .